Aurora Rose and the Fierce, Ferocious, Fearsome Fae
by CocoMingo
Summary: [Modern Malora AU] (Peccatum in Carne/Changeling Fusion, Tumblr prompt to celebrate Halloween) Aurora and Maleficent celebrate their first Samhain together. Is Maleficent really as dark as she seems? The morning has Aurora questioning. By the evening, all bets are off.


**A/N: Rshanaynaychand, writer of 'Mortal Fae' has prompted Malora writers on Tumblr to write a 'spoopy' ficlet to celebrate the upcoming Skeleton War 2014... ahem, Halloween! I had asked followers during a vote if they wanted a Peccatum in Carne (Modern Malora AU) or Changeling (Medieval Malora) ficlet, and the responses were across the board: put them in a jar, shake them together, and pour it out. It turned out a lot fluffier than I expected... until the end. **

**Enjoy, beasties. **

**Story Soundtrack:**

"**My Love," Vitamin String Quartet **

"**Safe (KMFDM Remix,)" Kittie **

"**Strangeness and Charm," Florence + the Machine**

* * *

**Aurora Rose and the Fierce, Ferocious, Fearsome Fae**

* * *

Morning broke gray and dreary in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire on October 31st, as it did most of the Autumn. A distinct bite was in the air, signaling the change between the seasons. Soon, winter would be upon the countryside and with it all the cold, slushy, muddy, awful weather that Aurora Rose despised.

With a yawn, she rolled in the flannel sheets and downy comforter of her bed. She had awoken cold, a rare occurrence. Her hand stretched out blindly for the presence of a warm body beside her, but found none. Confused by this, Aurora leaned on one elbow and blinked tired eyes into the dim light. The wall clock stated that it was only 6:54 AM, and she shook her head full of tangled blonde waves with a huff. Her girlfriend was known to be an early riser, but this was decidedly much earlier than ever before.

"Maleficent?" she called out blearily. There was no answer, nor were there the requisite sounds and smells of tea being made. Their home was also devoid of the aroma of coffee.

That both worried and annoyed her. Emerging from her duvet cocoon, she placed both feet on the hardwood that peeked from beneath the throw rugs of their bedroom and hissed at the icy chill that ran through her. Goosebumps erupted up her legs and though her body, and she leaped up with grumbling curses.

Now thankful that she didn't have an audience to poke fun at her stiff dancing across the room to the closet, Aurora snatched at a white cotton nightgown once inside. It was so laughably different than any of the other clothing that hung here, full of frothy, lacy edges and pintucking. She didn't much care to think on its oddity at the current hour, and only sought warmth. Throwing it over her head and shoving her arms through the long sleeves, she then layered it with a cable knit wrap sweater. Even then, her teeth chattered.

She made her way down the stairs, shivering the entire way. "Maleficent!" she hissed, peeking around the corner of the stairwell into the open area of the eat-in kitchen. "Where are you!"

A shock of fear crept up her spine when the only sound that answered her was the chiming of the hall clock notifying the silent cottage that it was now 7 o'clock in the morning. A whimper slid past her lips as she ran a hand through her mess of hair. "Don't be ridiculous, Aurora. There's nobody here to kidnap you. Or kill you. Or both," she wheezed in a feeble attempt to coach herself down the last stair.

Maleficent had taught her months ago to observe her surroundings when in situations like this. The hyper aware woman was forever grasping Aurora out of the way of oncoming traffic or unsavory looking people whether they were in London or Middlesbrough, growling obscenities at her lack of self-preservation. At first, it had seemed like a game.

That was until... No, she shook her head stubbornly. Aurora refused to give that day another thought.

Her blue eyes wandered the kitchen for signs of life. There, on the counter! A rose and vine decorated cup and saucer, Maleficent's favorite. It was half empty, and judging from the lack of steam, the tea inside had long gone cold. Beside it was a container of the butterscotch scones that they'd baked the evening before. A small smile lit up her face at the memory; they had made two batches, side by side. Maleficent's had baked up perfectly; hers had burnt to a crisp, much to their joint chagrin.

_'You're not being gentle enough...' Maleficent had said, wiping flour away from her cheek. 'I warned you that you were beating it too harshly,' she pointed at Aurora's now empty bowl. 'I... Oh, sod off!' _

_At the irony of her commentary, both women burst out laughing._

One corner of the tupperware was still open, and it looked as if the burnt scones had been removed. Seeing that nothing else was out of place, Aurora snuck down the last stair and spun into the kitchen, her hands out in defense. It was then that movement caught her eye outside the large window over the sink. Someone was near the woods, past the evergreen bushes and long-dead clusters of summer shrubs and flowers that made up the cottage's vast garden.

Maleficent was sitting at the treeline, black paisley wellies covering her legs up to the knee. One of her robes was underneath the quilted barn jacket that she liked to wear when pulling dead things and culling plants outside. The sight was comical, and a snicker bubbled it's way up Aurora's throat and into the air.

And then... "Ohhhh," Aurora cooed, her hand reaching out spontaneously towards the scene.

A doe had wandered from the thicket of trees, and tenderly nibbled at Maleficent's outstretched hand. The mahogany tressed head bowed slightly at the little creature, and the other hand came up painfully slow in a show of deference. When the doe did not startle, it received a tentative caress on it's furry cheek with her knuckles. Then, that hand opened to reveal another burnt scone.

Tiptoeing over to the dutch door that led to the gardens, Aurora slipped on a pair of clogs that laid beside the door. They were far too big for her feet, but she tried to move as quietly as possible as she shuffled into the freezing morning. However she tried, the footwear made a swish-slosh sound in the frosty grasses, and the doe noticed. Halfway to the tree line, the deer made eye contact as if to assess her. It's wide, brown eyes blinked and looked back towards Maleficent.

"Shhh," the seated woman hushed. Aurora wasn't sure if she was speaking to the doe, or to her. Perhaps it was both.

"Um, hi... hullo there," Aurora whispered in response, not quite sure what else to say. Most people never really considered the woman before her to be anything but her typical serious self – not one prone to flights of fancy that involved frolicking with woodland creatures. There were times when one could glimpse a carefree soul beneath the stoic facade, but they were rare. Aurora knew that she existed, though – and her heart raced with excitement at this discovery, this moment.

"Sit," the ethereal being clothed in all of her mish-moshed finery exhaled softly, a request.

The doe tilted her fine, delicate head at the word and seemed to agree before munching some more scone. No, commands seemed to have no power here – only the equal and shared respect between people and... "Does she have a name?"

"I'm sure she does, but I don't know it," Maleficent murmured, tracing a tender finger along the animal's soft neck.

Aurora sat down next to the pair, her blue eyes going back and forth between the chocolate eyes of the doe and the green eyes of her lover. "Couldn't we just call her Clarice, like from Rudolph?"

A somehow elegant snort came from Maleficent as she broke apart another scone. "I told you, she has a name. Just because we don't know it doesn't mean we ought to give her a human one."

Teasing fell heavy on Aurora's tongue, and the thought of _'you're so strange.'_ She bit against the words and swallowed them. It was Maleficent's strangeness that she loved the most – her unique way.

Turning her pale eyes glistening with the gray dawn's light on Aurora, Maleficent smiled gently. She knew that the young woman didn't quite comprehend what was being said, and yet she stayed silent. It was Aurora's calm she loved the most – her quiet way.

It wasn't as if Aurora wasn't loud and boisterous at times, oh no. She could battle and shout with the best of Maleficent's bad moods. And yet, when posed with something new... something unknown, Aurora would simply observe and learn. She never criticized.

"Feed her one more piece, amare. Any more and she'll twist her gut," she said, nudging a piece of the confection into Aurora's cupped hand.

As Aurora's dainty hand raised up, the doe took the proffered treat and munched on it thoughtfully. It knew that the small human was not a threat by this point, and seemed to be a companion to the one who always brought food. Snuffling around for more, the deer contented itself by rubbing a velvety nose against the smooth hand when it found none.

"There you go," Aurora whispered, brushing her hand against the doe's forehead and down to its nose.

Grunting its thanks caused white puffs of steam to come from the doe's mouth. She turned away and strode purposefully back into the forest.

If the magical morning's curiousness hadn't been enough to begin with, Maleficent unfolded several of her pristine scones from a napkin in her lap once the deer had gone. These she placed on rocks that scattered the little clearing at the edge of the tree line, but only after brushing any dirt off of them first with her hands.

"What on Earth are you doing, Malle?" Aurora giggled.

A wry grin thrown over her shoulder was Maleficent's reply as she continued to place the scones. Once finished, she brushed her hands off and took Aurora's arm to lead back to the cottage. "It's for the _fairies_," she revealed, eyes darting around as if someone could hear her.

For the second time this morning, Aurora withheld a disbelieving scoff. She shut the back door as Maleficent sat to tug her wellies off. "The _fairies, _Maleficent... Really?" she questioned, no longer able to contain her curiosity. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm _fine," _Maleficent sputtered, standing to reach for her tea. "You don't question me feeding a wild animal, but you question me leaving an offering for some of the most fierce and ferocious creatures known to mankind on the day when they go from their summer homes to their winter homes - on Samhain?" [1]

"Um... fierce? Ferocious?" Aurora chortled as she made tiny legs with two fingers of her hand and walked them across the counter to hop on Maleficent's shoulder. "The wee little things? Pixies are scary?"

Frowning, Maleficent flicked the playful fingers from her shoulder. "I see the Victorian age has poisoned your brain as well. The Fair Folk are not all tiny, Beastie. Some are very... fearsome," she said measuredly.

Aurora shrugged and sat down as well. "I don't understand," she pouted. "I thought fairies were nice. Besides, how do you know?"

"Some are nice, but not all," Maleficent chuckled at the pout. "I know because... well, I just do. What is my name?"

Rolling her eyes in irritation, Aurora rose to shuffle towards the coffee pot. "_Maleficent_, of course." She poured water into the carafe, measured the grounds, and turned the contraption on... but there was only the sounds of Maleficent's breathing behind her. Had she hurt her feelings?

Aurora bit her lip and turned an apologetic eye on the woman seated at the table, who was currently studying her teacup as if it held the wonders of the world. Just as she was about to speak, Maleficent interrupted softly – ever so softly.

"When the first man named Adam saw that he was all alone, God made for him a woman like himself. She was made from the earth, and God called her name Lilith. He brought her to Adam, and they immediately began to quarrel." At this, she raised an eyebrow and wiggled it.

"Adam said: "You lie beneath me." And Lilith said: "No, you lie beneath me! We are both equal, for both of us are from the earth." And they would not listen to one another," Maleficent laughed mirthlessly as she met Aurora's gaze before continuing on. "As soon as Lilith saw this truth, she uttered the True Name of God, and flew up into the air and hid from His Divine eyes."

Her blue eyes softening at the tale, Aurora fidgeted. She'd been taught by the church that Lilith was made a demon for her insolence towards God. Beautiful and evil all at once, she would steal mortal children in recompense for the archangels dooming a hundred of her children to die. "I am listening," she reassured as she poured a cup of coffee.

Maleficent's lips pursed in thought before responding. "My father named me, and for the longest time the running joke was that it was a jab at my grandparents for being so angry for my mother falling pregnant out of wedlock. A monstrous name for a monstrous sin, you see..." Blowing out a breath, her eyes grew glassy. "But he taught me many things, my father. Not all people think that Lilith is a demon, or whatever most Christians believe. The French say she was Mother of the fairies. My mother even used to joke that my father was one, and that's how he stole her heart."

"So..." Aurora mused, "Oh! Maleficent is that bad fairy from that old story, right? Both of your names are fairy names!"

"All three," Maleficent grinned. "Honestly Aurora, are you so awful at French that you don't know what LaFey means?"

* * *

Aurora patted angrily at her hair, which seemed to have a mind of its own. Of all nights, her standard spray and curl 'sexy' hairstyle chose to become 'untamed, frizzy mess.'

She groaned, and tried to ignore the wildness of her golden tresses in favor of applying some lip gloss. The bathroom was getting too warm for comfort, and a bead of sweat ran from between her shoulders and down her back underneath her tight dress.

For the first time in forever, she and Maleficent were going out - alone. No police escorts, no haranguing friends; just them. It was going to be gloriously entertaining, apparently.

Where they were headed was a complete mystery, although their plans had also been a surprise to her until she'd mentioned at 2:00PM that they didn't have a stitch of candy for any trick or treaters brave enough to approach the cottage.

Maleficent had laughed wholeheartedly at that. _"I was a teacher, Aurora... and now they call me a scary, weird, elitist stranger. They'll throw toilet paper on my trees and run screaming when I yell out the windows at them. No, we're going out." _

A knock on the bathroom door disturbed her from the reverie. "Are you _quite_ finished in there?" Maleficent complained. "We needed to leave ten minutes ago."

"Fine, fine... I'm ready!" Aurora bit back, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Throwing open the bathroom door, she was ready to throw a litany of complaints at her girlfriend for the interruption. However, what she found behind the door robbed her of the ability to speak. "Oh, uhm..." she squeaked, her hair standing on end.

Leaning against the frame was the epitome of dark beauty.

Maleficent's eyes were heavily lidded as she peered down at Aurora in appraisal, made up with dark charcoal shadow and mascara. The effect may have been overdone on some people, but it made the green irises shine like glittering peridot gems. The perennially ruby lips that the woman favored curled into a smile, but it was crooked and filled with the promise of quite dastardly fun. Drawing her arm down from the doorframe to rest it just below her barely covered breasts, the other hand stayed on the hip of a highly slit skirt that peeked a garter connected to a pair of her seamed stockings. She looked like sex on fire.

All of this, and her lover breathed "Beautiful, Aurora. You are beautiful."

"Me?" Aurora worried her lip with her teeth and brushed at the short white dress she'd paired with heavy jewelry and silver heels in spirit of the evening. One could wear practically anything on Halloween and not be overdressed. Or in Maleficent's case... under-dressed. "I can't hold a candle to..." she motioned towards the display of utter seduction before her.

"Nonsense," Maleficent tsked, sweeping an arm around Aurora to draw her towards the stairs. "You are perfect, my _stella ardens." [2]_

Once they had made their way downstairs and out the door, Maleficent locked up quickly. The Jag sat purring, already warm. Aurora hopped in, her eyes bright at the little things that made her heart swell even more with love for the woman that strode away from the cottage to slide gracefully behind the wheel.

"Ready?" she queried, excitement sneaking through her tone.

"Ready!" Aurora chirped, practically vibrating in her seat.

The hard look that she knew came to Maleficent's eyes before anything exhilarating was about to happen flashed, and a scarf of black fabric was held aloft in offering.

Leaning forward so that the blindfold could be tied around her eyes, Aurora shivered. "You're really taking this whole surprise thing seriously, aren't you?"

As the car shifted into reverse and then made a three point turn to veer off the drive and onto the highway, the sinfully deep laugh she'd come to expect sent another thrill down her spine.

"Oh, Beastie. I always keep my promises."

* * *

An hour of requested silence between them and many loud, cacophonous rock songs later, Aurora felt the car being parked alongside a road. "Where are we?" she peeped, not daring to remove her blindfold without permission.

"A bar," Maleficent answered elusively. "If I remove the scarf, will you keep your eyes closed? Do you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," Aurora muttered, frowning at the insinuation.

"Keep pouting, and I'll give you something to pout about," her lover warned, reaching behind her blonde curls to loose the knot and remove the fabric from her eyelids. "Tonight is about learning to listen, learning to feel. Our eyes can draw us in like moths to a flame to places we'd like to go, or warn us from places we'd never have chosen to go. Sight can be deceiving," she instructed.

The wheels began to turn in Aurora's mind. "O-kay..." She'd always been taught that seeing was believing. Still, she kept her eyes closed.

The driver's side door snapped shut, and within moments hers had opened and cool hands tugged on hers. "Come, now."

The hands guided Aurora along the sidewalk and to the door of a noisy club. When the bouncer had nothing to say other than "Good night eh, Mallie?" the young woman's eyebrows raised.

"They know you here?" she shouted over the din of music.

"The bouncer does," a voice answered directly into her right ear, effectively startling Aurora.

Arms wrapped around her waist, steering her forward. "Now, listen and feel."

"I'm listening!" Aurora yelped. But how could she truly listen with the constant thump of bass over the speakers?

They bumped through people left and right to take a place on the dance floor, and the hands that had guided Aurora now ran lightly over her ribs and hips before coming to rest over her lower stomach. She felt Maleficent press into her from behind, coaxing them into a swaying rhythm to the slow back beat of the song playing.

"Remember, don't open your eyes," another reminder was issued. How was it that Maleficent could speak so quietly in a roomful of noise and sound so very loud? "In this darkness, troubled waters... Lies a flicker of hope's fire," she sang along, sending goosebumps down Aurora's flesh with her heated breath and wandering hands.

Between the rising heat of the room they were dancing in, and the bodies that seemed to be getting closer and closer, Aurora began to feel claustrophobic. Her pulse began to race, and tight puffs of air came from her lips.

A kiss was placed on her right earlobe. "Say when, Aurora..."

"I'm... I'm okay," she murmured, pressing more firmly into her lover's embrace.

The hands holding her close wandered up to brazenly caress her breasts, and a gasp caught in Aurora's throat. Still, her body moved with the undeniable connection to the one behind it, refusing to give up contact – refusing to leave the promise of safety. Drums pounded over the sound system, and she realized that her heartbeat had moved to beat in tandem with it.

"Come to your senses, wager a risk I won't let go... Waiting for this; its wonderful reality... I watch as this golden bird flies free," Maleficent crooned, grazing her fingernails across Aurora's collarbone and back down her arms.

As time passed, Aurora realized what her lover had meant by 'listen,' and 'feel.' With each song, her body became more relaxed; emotions spiking her blood in tandem with the words being sung. Her skin was alive with the feather light touches that were vastly more attention grabbing than a jostle from a patron here and there. If she even concentrated hard enough, the exhalations in her ear could be matched with the push of breasts against her shoulder blades.

Laying her head back onto a shoulder, she threw her arms up so that her hands could slide through the mahogany waves that existed only in her mind at the moment. She couldn't see them, but she surely could remember.

She heard Maleficent licking at her lips. The sound made her test her own, and she was surprised to find that they were dry. "I think we're thirsty," Aurora spoke to the ceiling, knowing that yelling was a futile effort and wholly unnecessary by this point.

"I don't want to leave you on the dance floor alone," Maleficent said, pulling her closer for emphasis.

Aurora beamed, and released her hold on the silky hair she'd run her hands through for three songs. "Go! Go to the bar. I'll plant my feet in one spot and sway, I promise..."

With a harsh exhale and a gulp, the body behind her was gone. Air that must have been hot as a summer's day blew past Aurora's back and neck now, but it felt like the cool breeze off of a lake. She hadn't realized how much body heat their dancing had generated. Bolstered by the sensation, she continued to careen and move with the crowd of people, her hands thrown over her head in abandon.

A hand slid around one of her wrists as she turned towards the noise of clinking glasses, and for a moment her heart sang with joy. A very brief, fleeting moment.

The palm was too big, and much too hot. It squeezed rather than stroked, and Aurora tugged her wrist back with a scowl.

When a gruff voice had the nerve to come closer and ask if her girlfriend shared, Aurora screamed for dear life. Her blue eyes flew open in horror.

Faster than she could blink, Maleficent scrambled from the bar and put a stiff arm forward against the man's chest to push him away. Her eyes gleamed with rage, and her white teeth were bared in a most fearsome grimace. "What. Are. You. Doing?"she spat at him.

The obviously drunk gentleman knew when to pick his battles, and threw his hands up in a show of submission before backing away.

The bouncer, who was much larger in life than his voice gave him credit for, jogged over to intercede. "Easy, Mallie. It's Halloween, you know? They're all plastered..." he plead the idiot's case. "No bloodshed tonight, okay?"

Aurora was boggled at the exchange between the muscle-bound doorman and Maleficent, who nodded sharply back at him before speaking to Aurora. "We're going home, amare."

"All right," she replied softly as Maleficent turned towards the front door. Looking back at the tall man in wonder, Aurora blurted out the question that laid heavily on her tongue. "Where do you know um... Mallie from?"

The bouncer's hefty hand looked like it could knock a giant down, but it patted Aurora's cheek like she was spun glass. He winked at Maleficent and walked back towards the bar.

"What was that?" Aurora hissed, pointing at his retreating figure before throwing a glare at her lover.

Maleficent merely sighed and raised her eyebrow in challenge before curling her arm around Aurora and walking towards the door. "We'll talk in the car," she stated firmly.

Stomping out the Maleficent's embrace and through the bar's exit sent shots of pain up Aurora's legs. She hadn't noticed the fatigue until this point, but refused to give up the pretense of anger for the sake of her feet. Quickly spotting the Jag across the street, she tottered across in her heels and crossed her arms, awaiting the doors to be unlocked.

Making her way to the car leisurely to avoid attention of those loitering the sidewalks, Maleficent unlocked the passenger side door and slid the seat forward. She motioned to the back seat and gave an apprehensive smile at the overheated, dramatic young woman to her left. "Talk first. Then we'll drive... hmm?"

"Fine," Aurora snarked, climbing her way into the back seat. When Maleficent slid in and closed the door behind them, she turned to face her lover with a glare. "So, talk. He's an American, or at least a transplant. I can hear it in his accent, or lack thereof."

Quirking a brow at Aurora, Maleficent pulled the blonde to straddle her so that they were face to face. When her amare did not shrug off her hands or refuse the action, she internally breathed a sigh of relief that the evening might be salvageable. "Yes... I knew him from America," she said cautiously.

"God! I knew it!" Aurora crowed, tugging at her hair. "It's just that... I am so hyped up right now. I feel like my blood is on fire, and it's rushing past my ears. I want to kick something, or punch someone _really_ hard, especially the guy that pulled my wrist," she rambled. "You're just sitting there all calm, and I'm out of my mind for not wanting to screw your brains out right now because you've been touching me all night and your boobs are..."

"You're jealous," Maleficent soothed, running her palms down Aurora's puffy curls, soaked with sweat undeneath and frizzed with the heat from the bar. While her face was serene, her nostrils flared a bit.

Aurora spotted the tell a mile away before she felt a knee nudge at her center, and a moan escaped her lips before she could stop it. Leaning forward, she clutched Maleficent's hair in her hands and yanked, hard. "You don't play fair," she grumbled.

The tugging didn't elicit any facial reaction, but Maleficent's leg slid forward and back again. "I never said I did," she said slyly. "Relax, darling one. He was just a friend... one who brought my thoroughly trashed self home more than a few times."

"That's just it! He brought you home, or Elsa did! And where was I - playing with dolls or my Easy Bake oven? _I should have been there_," Aurora cried, the enormity of her emotions swelling her voice and breaching the dam in her heart. "I should have..."

Her rant was cut short by her lover's lips pressing firmly against her mouth, seeking permission with the sweep of a tongue along her bottom lip along with a nip. When Aurora just sat there and didn't return the kiss, Maleficent leaned back in shock.

"Amare, _you did_. Don't you know that?" she whispered, her eyes pained. "You did what they could not do."

A choked noise burbled from Aurora's mouth, and with surprising speed she leaned forward to return the kiss at last. Pleased murmurs fell from the red lips when she did so, and out of instinct her mouth traveled south. Without truly thinking, she released the two buttons holding Maleficent's shirt closed, and flicked the front enclosure bra open.

"Aurora," her love panted, mischievousness evident in her tone. "We're not home yet."

"I don't care, the windows are tinted nearly black," Aurora muttered, placing kisses over the swells of flesh that was revealed with every tug of her fingertips. "Besides! I want to live, and not give a shit what other people think for once," she swore before nibbling her way up the sweetly scented skin and back to Maleficent's neck.

It was cliché, but the evening had truly expanded her awareness of not only her surroundings, but her own senses and that of her lover. The thudding pulse beneath her fingertips as she traced the planes of Maleficent's chest was fascinating, and it set her own heart racing once more. The sounds spilling forth from the lipstick-smeared lips echoed through the car's cabin, and her now sensitive ears perked at the moans and sighs.

What she had thought was an exercise in futility had become fun until it wasn't, but Aurora's body had been set aflame. She wasn't sure if she wanted the fire to ever be put out.

Grinding herself along the leg that had teased her earlier, she ran her fingernails along the smooth expanse of stomach to press into the skin just near where sharp hips peeked over the edge of her lover's black skirt. It had bunched up well over the gartered stockings with her rocking, and the sight brought her emotions to a head once more.

Darting forward, Aurora nibbled at Maleficent's pulse point and bit down. The woman beneath her screamed, and raked her fingernails down frantically.

"Oh! Oh fuck..." Aurora pulled back, her eyes worried.

"Did you just bite me... On my neck?" Maleficent seethed, her eyes narrowing. "Beastie," she reprimanded.

"Y-yes..."

Suddenly, the green eyes widened and became fierce and full of desire as the smell of arousal filled the air.

"Good. _Do it again._"

* * *

1 Ancient lore explains Winter in the story of the old woman goddess, Cailleach, who struck the ground with her hammer, and made it hard until Imbolc. It is the time when Celts believed the gates to the otherworld were opened and they could communicate with the dead. Later, in the Christian era the festival has been reassigned to the Feast of All Saints, however, many of the customs surrounding it concern this understanding of the accessibility to the dead at this time. November is a month of special devotions to the dead.

It was thought that at the feasts of Samhain and Beltaine (May 1st), supernatural events took place. Some believe Samhain is the time the fairy mounds open and the Sidhe -the fairies- swarm. Some believe the Sidhe are the spirits of the dead, others the Tuatha de Dannan. Nevertheless, it was a dangerous time to be abroad at night for fear of abduction by the Sidhe as they traveled around the countryside to their Winter homes.

2 Stella ardens – burning star, supernova


End file.
